Earpiece holder with access portal and pivoting clip element

ABSTRACT

The present invention is generally directed to a retention means for receiving and retaining aural attenuation devices, and specifically to a holder for earpieces that has multiple points for temporarily affixing earpieces with the holder and means for removably attaching the holder to a secondary surface. The holder includes a plurality of access portals through the side surface aspects for accessing the earpiece contained therein and allowing for retention of earpieces having significantly different profiles and geometries. Attached to the holder is a clip element comprising a front and back clip profile. The front and back clip profiles act upon one another to achieve a pinch point useful for allowing the holder to be slidably engaged onto a surface such as a collar, pocket, purse edge or the like. The clip element is attached to the holder through a rotatable mount that allows the clip to move through a 360° planar arc relative to a long axis of the holder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Through the propagation of cellular phone and personal music devices, the associated earpieces needed for use of those devices and controlling the location of the earpieces has become a growing problem. Earpieces include those having an interconnecting wire for conducting signal from the device to the user's ear, and in the case of cellular phones, to return a separate signal from a microphone receiver associated with the earpiece back to the device. New technology has created the wireless earpiece which conveys the signals to and from the device to the user without use of a physical wire.

When the earpieces are not in immediate use, the type of earpiece type defines the associated problem of controlling the location of the earpiece. For wired earpieces, there is the issue with the interconnecting wire becoming entangled with other objects in the environment. This entanglement of the connecting wire is at a minimum an inconvenience, but can cause physical harm if the earpiece is suddenly and forcibly removed from either the user's ear or the electronic device. While wireless earpieces do not suffer from inadvertent entanglement issues, the fact that the wireless earpieces are typically small in profile and do not have the connecting wire to act as a keeping mechanism, such wireless earpieces are more readily lost with a significantly higher financial impact.

Prior art attempts to address retention of earpieces have met with limited success. U.S. Pat. No. D543,694 to Wang is directed to a design having a fixed single clip and cylindrical shape. Commercially available wireless earpiece and headset carriers are available, with a specific focus on being useful for a singular manufacture of such device, and often to a singular product within the offerings from that manufacturer.

Therefore, a need exists for an earpiece holder that is adaptable to a broad range of earpiece designs and allows the user options in terms of mounting position and orientation.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to a retention means for receiving and retaining aural attenuation devices, and specifically to a holder for earpieces that have multiple points for temporarily affixing earpieces with the holder and means for removably attaching the holder to a secondary surface. The holder includes a plurality of access portals through the side surface aspects for accessing the earpiece contained therein and allowing for retention of earpieces having significantly different profiles and geometries. The holder may optionally include one or more hooks by which to receive cords and related wires associated with a reatined earpiece or earpieces. Attached to the holder is a clip element comprising a front and back clip profile. The front and back clip profiles act upon one another to achieve a pinch point useful for allowing the holder to be slidably engaged onto a surface such as a collar, pocket, purse edge or the like. The clip element is attached to the holder through a rotatable mount that allows the clip to move through a 360° planar arc relative to a long axis of the holder.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

The invention will be more easily understood by a detailed explanation of the invention including drawings. Accordingly, drawings which are particularly suited for explaining the inventions are attached herewith; however, it should be understood that such drawings are for descriptive purposes only and as thus are not necessarily to scale beyond the measurements provided. The drawings are briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first representative earpiece holder of the present invention wherein the side access portals extend into the edge radius of the body and optional supplemental edge portals having an open parameter extend from the upper and lower edges of the holder body.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view taken at the midpoint 2-2.

FIG. 3 is a top-down view of an earpiece holder.

FIG. 4 is a back view of an earpiece holder wherein the side access portals form a useful shape in the body for receiving excess or unused connection wire.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view depicting the rotation of the clip element in a 360° planar arc around a pivot point.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an earpiece holder optional supplemental access portals having an open parameter extend from the upper and lower edges of the holder body.

FIG. 7 is a top-down view of an earpiece holder wherein the side access portals extend into the edge radius and optional supplemental edge portals having an open parameter is included.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view taken at the midpoint of a second representative earpiece holder of the present invention wherein the clip element includes an additional retention function for maintain connecting wire in a stable form around the holder body and optional supplemental edge portals having an open parameter is included.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of the earpiece holder depicted in FIG. 8 wherein an earpiece has been inserted into an optional supplemental edge portal having an open parameter and the connecting wire wrapped about the holder body.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the earpiece depicted in FIG. 8 wherein an earpiece has been inserted into an optional supplemental edge portal having an open parameter and the connecting wire wrapped about the holder body.

FIG. 11 is a back view of the earpiece depicted in FIG. 8 wherein an earpiece has been inserted into an optional supplemental access portals having an open parameter, the connecting wire wrapped about the holder body and the clip element is shown diagrammatically moving from an unengaged or “open” position to an engaged or “closed” position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated.

Referring more specifically to the figures, for illustrative purposes the present invention is embodied in the apparatus generally shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is generally directed to a retention means for receiving and retaining aural attenuation devices, and specifically to a holder for earpieces that has multiple points for temporarily affixing earpieces with the holder and means for removably attaching the holder to a secondary surface. The earpiece holder assembly is comprised of an open ended holder body 10, access portals 11, a clip mount 12, clip element 14 and depicted herein an optional hook element 18. Holder body 10 may have a geometric cross section (as show in FIGS. 2 and 5), elliptical cross section or compound combinations thereof. The holder body 10 has a width (W), depth (D), height (H), wall thickness (WT) and a long axis (LA). The width (W) and depth (D) may have the same dimensions (i.e. exhibit symmetry about two planes oriented at right angle where the long axis describes the intersection line of the two planes) or different dimensions (i.e. exhibit symmetry about one plane oriented along the long axis). For practical applications, the dimensions for holder body 10 typically fall within the ranges specified in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Dimension Range Preferred Range Most Preferred Range Width (W) 6.0 mm to 40.0 mm 12.0 mm to 35.0 mm 15.0 mm to 30.0 mm Depth (D) 6.0 mm to 40.0 mm 12.0 mm to 35.0 mm 17.0 mm to 30.0 mm Height (H) 20.0 mm to 75.0 mm  30.0 mm to 65.0 mm 35.0 mm to 55.0 mm Wall Thickness 0.5 mm to 3.0 mm  1.0 mm to 2.5 mm 1.2 mm to 2.0 mm (WT)

Holder body 10 is composed of any suitable material that is resistant to deformation and provides minimum sufficient durability to withstand momentary impact forces of about 50 psi. Particular material compositions used in manufacturing holder body 10 include ferrous, metallic and polymer plastics, wherein polymer plastics are preferred. Polymer plastics include both thermoplastic and thermoset chemistries, with thermoplastics from the families of PVC and ABS being preferred for commercial embodiments. The holder body can include additional aesthetic and performance modifying additives to alter the base material attributes.

The holder body 10 includes a plurality of access portals 11 through the side surface thereof for accessing the inner space within holder body 10. The inner space, in conjunction with the exterior surface, of holder body 10 is used to retain an inserted earpiece 40. Access portals 11 allow retention of earpieces having significantly different profiles and geometries as well as a convenient means for a user to apply fingertip pressure to affix or remove an earpiece 40. Access portals 11 may have any geometry suitable to the interior bounds described by the surface of holder body 10, and may include shapes having rectilinear, elliptic and compound combinations thereof. The geometry of an access portal 11 may be completely circumscribed by the material composition of holder body 10, as access portal 11, or may extend to and include an edge profile of said holder body 10, as an edge portal 13. An access portal may comprise at least 10% and as much as 90% of the surface area associated with holder body 10.

Depending from holder body 10 may be one or more hook elements 18. Hook element 18 is provided for the beneficial retention of cords, wires, or other flexible elongate elements associated with an earpiece. Hook element may have any suitable geometry for retaining a flexible elongate element and may be integral to, or separately attached with, holder body 10.

Attached to holder body 10 is clip element 14, wherein clip element 14 is comprised of a front clip 20 and back clip 22. Front clip 20 and back clip 22 can be formed from a common component (as shown) or from separate components interdigitated together and from materials have deformable recovery such as plastic and metallic polymers (either ferrous or nonferrous). The front clip 20 and back clip 22 act upon one another to achieve a pinch point useful for allowing the earpiece holder assembly 4 to be slidably engaged onto a surface. Front clip 20 and back clip 22 may each have a similar or different profile to allow for the clips to come within close proximity to one another and for the necessary pinch point. The pinch point may be a singular point or a plurality of either continuous or discontinuous points that create a compressive force useful in allowing clip element 14 to maintain the overall earpiece holder assembly in an intended position. The position maintaining attribute of the pinch point can be further enhanced through inclusion of mechanical or chemical friction modifiers. Typical items to which clip element 14 may be slidably engaged include the interior or exterior edges of an article of clothing worn by the user, as exemplified by a collar, a pocket, a tie, or a button line. The clip element 14 may also be slidably engaged upon the interior or exterior edge of an object convenient to the position of the user, as exemplified by a seat belt, a purse, a briefcase or a chair seam or strap.

The clip element 14 is attached to the holder body 14 through a clip mount 12. Clip mount 12 is rotatable about pivot point 24 and allows clip element 14 to move through a 360° planar arc relative to a long axis of the holder (FIG. 4). Various mechanisms can be employed to allow pivot point 24, with the common need for an axle 26, a lock 28 and a torsion surface 30. Axle 26 extends from (and may be either embedded it or locked to) clip element 14 through torsion surface 30 and clip mount 12 to lock 28. Clip mount 12 is configured such that lock 28 can rotate but prevents axel 26 from being casually removed. Torsion surface 30 is provided to apply a force in alignment with axle 26 so as to provide resistance of the clip element 14 form inadvertently rotating from the intended position set by the user. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8, an optional ball detent 32 is also included to provide a positional momentary lock. The ball detent 32 incorporated in the representative design allows for 12 positions of momentary lock, or a detent position every 30° of planar arc. Alternate momentary locks such as spring clips and toothed ratchets may be used in the alternative.

In FIGS. 8 through 11, therein is depicted a means for employing the design of the present invention to retain an earpiece 40 having a connecting wire 44. The earpiece 40 is shown inserted into edge portal 13, though it is conceivable that an access portal may be used instead. Connecting wire 44 is then wrapped circumferentially about holder body 10, wherein access portal 11 acts to form a recessed receiving area for connecting wire 44. Optionally, clip back 22 includes further profiling so as to work simultaneously with front clip 20 for slidably engaging a support surface and to work with the surface of holder body 10 to retain wrapped connecting wire 44 thereupon.

Although the description above contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art. In the appended claims, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the disclosure and present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention, for it to be encompassed by the disclosure and present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” 

1. An earpiece holder comprising: a. a open ended holder body; b. at least one access portal located within said holder body; c. a clip mount attached to said holder body at a pivot point; and d. a clip element affixed to said clip mount wherein said clip element is comprised of a clip front and a clip back.
 2. An earpiece holder as in claim 1, wherein said open ended holder body is comprised of plastic polymer.
 3. An earpiece holder as in claim 1, wherein said pivot point allows clip element to rotate through a 360° planar arc.
 4. An earpiece holder as in claim 1, wherein said open clip mount further comprises a torsion surface at said pivot point.
 5. An earpiece holder as in claim 1, wherein said open clip mount is further comprised of a momentary lock element.
 6. An earpiece holder as in claim 5, wherein said momentary lock element is a ball detent.
 7. An earpiece holder as in claim 1, wherein said earpiece holder has two or more access portals.
 8. An earpiece holder as in claim 1, wherein said earpiece holder is further comprised of one or more edge portals.
 9. An earpiece holder as in claim 1, wherein said clip front and said clip back act upon one another to form a pinch point.
 10. A method of using an earpiece holder with a wireless earpiece comprised of: a. obtaining an earpiece holder comprising: i. a open ended holder body; ii. at least one access portal located within said holder body; iii. a clip mount attached to said holder body at a pivot point; and iv. a clip element affixed to said clip mount wherein said clip element is comprised of a clip front and a clip back. b. slidably engaging said clip element to a surface edge; c. indexing said holder body relative to said engaged clip element about said pivot point to achieve a desired angle; and d. inserting a wireless earpiece into said holder body.
 11. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 10, wherein said open ended holder body is comprised of plastic polymer.
 12. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 10, wherein said pivot point allows clip element to rotate through a 360° planar arc.
 13. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 10, wherein said open clip mount further comprises a torsion surface at said pivot point.
 14. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 10, wherein said open clip mount is further comprised of a momentary lock element.
 15. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 14, wherein said momentary lock element is a ball detent.
 16. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 10, wherein said earpiece holder has two or more access portals.
 17. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 10, wherein said earpiece holder is further comprised of one or more edge portals.
 18. A method of using an earpiece holder as in claim 10, wherein said clip front and said clip back act upon one another to form a pinch point. 